A refrigerator is an apparatus for storing food at a relatively low temperature and may be configured to store food in a frozen state or a refrigerated state. A decision to store food in a frozen state or refrigerated state may depend on the kind of food to be stored.
The interior of the refrigerator is cooled by supplied cold air, in which the cold air is typically generated by a temperature exchange action of a refrigerant according to a cooling cycle including compression, condensation, expansion and evaporation. The cold air supplied to the inside of the refrigerator can be distributed in the refrigerator by convection. Thus, items within the refrigerator can be stored at a desired temperature.
A refrigerator typically includes a main body having a rectangular parallelepiped shape with an open front side. A refrigerating compartment (e.g.; refrigerating space, portion, room, etc.) and a freezing compartment (e.g.: freezing space, portion, room, etc.) may be provided within the main body. A refrigerating compartment door and a freezing compartment door for selectively closing and opening the refrigerator compartment and the freezing compartment may be provided on the front side or surface of the main body. A plurality of drawers, shelves and container boxes for storing different kinds of food in a desired state may be provided in the internal storage spaces of the refrigerating compartment and freezing compartment.
Conventionally, mainstream refrigerators are top-mount-type refrigerators having a freezing compartment positioned at an upper side or portion of the refrigerator and a refrigerating compartment positioned at the lower side or portion of the refrigerator. There are also commercially available bottom-freeze-type refrigerators. Bottom-freeze-type refrigerators can enhance user convenience in which a more frequently-used refrigerating compartment is positioned at an upper portion of the refrigerator and a less frequently used freezing compartment is positioned at a lower portion of the refrigerator. This provides an advantage in that a user can conveniently use the refrigerating compartment. However, the bottom-freeze-type refrigerators (in which the freezing compartment is positioned at the lower portion or side) can pose an inconvenience when a user does access the freezing compartment, in that a user typically has to bend at the waist to open the freezing compartment door (e.g., to take out pieces of ice, food, etc.).
Traditional attempts at solving the above problem in the bottom freeze type refrigerators have included an ice dispenser installed in the refrigerating compartment or refrigerating compartment door in some implementations. In this approach, the refrigerating compartment door or the inside of the refrigerating compartment may be provided with an ice maker which generates ice.
The ice-making device may include an ice-making assembly provided with an ice tray for producing pieces of ice (e.g., in various shapes including cubes, cylindrical, semi-spherical, etc.), an ice bucket which stores the pieces of ice, and a feeder assembly which feeds the pieces of ice stored in the ice bucket to the dispenser.
Conventional ice trays attempt to retain water in a plurality of ice-making spaces. The ice-making spaces are formed on the upper surface of a tray body. A water supply port capable of distributing water to the ice-making spaces is formed on one surface of the tray body. Water distribution grooves are formed between the ice-making spaces. Thus, the ice-making spaces are connected to one another in an attempt to allow water to flow between the ice-making spaces. However, traditional ice trays often do not adequately supply water to each of the ice making spaces.
Since the main body of the conventional refrigerator is often inclined at an angle with respect to the floor surface, traditional ice trays in the refrigerator are also typically inclined at a similar angle. Thus, water in the ice-making spaces of the ice tray cannot smoothly move through the water supply grooves of the ice tray. This poses a problem in that the amount of water supplied to the ice-making spaces of the ice tray is not uniform.
Furthermore, if the amount of water supplied to the ice tray is not uniform, there is a problem in that the size of the ice pieces produced in the ice tray becomes non-uniform. As a result, ice pieces may not be produced in some of the ice-making spaces. The size of ice pieces produced in some of the ice-making spaces may be too small. Furthermore, in conventional approaches where a temperature sensor for detecting generation of ice pieces is provided on one surface of the ice tray, there is a problem in that the temperature sensor may not accurately detect generation of ice pieces.